overall: 1 1/4 in x 25 3/8 in x 5 in; 3.175 cm x 64.4525 cm x 12.7 cm
overall: 25 in x 5 in; 63.5 cm x 12.7 cm
Object Name:
Crutch, Patent Model
crutch, patent model
Place Made:
United States: Massachusetts, Wakefield
Date made:
1862
Description:
Patent model for Joshua Whittemore, “Improvement in Crutches,” U.S. Patent 36,743 (Oct. 21, 1862). Joshua Whittemore (b. 1814) was a Bostonian who moved to South Reading (now Wakefield) in 1849, lost a leg in a railroad accident, and designed a spring crutch. He displayed a patent elastic crutch at the 1874 exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association and took home a bronze medal.